Automobile steering mechanism



J. M. BENSON.

AUTOMOBILE STEERING MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 3. 1916.

1, 349, 65 8 Patented Aug. 17, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

J. M. BENSON.

AUTOMOBILE STEERING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JAN-3,1916.

Patented Aug. 17, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- mv NE NW M w m t E @Q attomnu,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JESSE BENSON, or concom), TENNESSEE.

AUTOMOBILE srEEEIne MEcHAN IsM.

I ApplicatiomfiledJanuary 3, 1916. Serial No. 69,861.

To all whom it may concern: i

Be it known that I, JnssE lid. Benson, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Concord, in the county of Knox and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and useful Improvement in i\utomobile Steering l lechanism, of which the following is a specification, referem'ebeing had. to the-accompanying drawing. 7 y

My improvement relatesparticularly to the steering mechanism of automobiles and to mechanism for securing and controlling; the front axles of automobiles. H

The object of the improvement is to pro vide eilicient mechanism which acts yieldingly to holdthe front or guide wheels in alinement with the length of the automobile and to provide a simple and efiicient means for supplementing; the front radius rod and. serving as a temporary substitute for the radius rod when either arm of the latter breaks.

In the accompanying, drawings, T

Figure l is a plan showing the front axle (or the aide to which the guide wheels are applied) and steering mechanism applied to said axle, including my improven'lent;

.liig. 2 is a section on the line, 2--Z, of Fig. 1, looking toward the right, enlarged relative to Fig. 1, and portions being broken away; i

Fig. is a sectional View along the line, 3-3 of Fig. 1, looking toward the right, portions being in full section, and portions being broken away; T

F 4 is a section on the line, i -a, of Fig.1, looking in the direction of the ar row, the parts being relatively enlarged;

Fig. 5 is a view of. the lower bracket member.partially detached, looking in the direction of the arrow on the line, of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is an elevation showing the interior of the stationary cam member, look ingtoward the left asshown in Fig. 3,

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of one end of the movable cam. member, looking toward the right as shown in Fig. 3; i i

Fig. 8 is an upright sectional detail.

Referring to said drawings,A isthe front made or the axle to which the guide wheels (the wheels which support one end,ofthe automobile and which are turned obliquely to an upright plane cutting the machine lenpgthwisel are applied. At each end of theaale is a guide wheel slipindleai, hinged Specification of Letters Patent;

Patented A11".

at A on an upright aXi: Toeach spindle is applied aspindle arm, A. Said arms are coupled to eachother by the spindle conmeeting rod, A. The usual steering gear connecting rod, A, is connected by oiie end to the spindle connecting rod, A, and by the other end to members leading to the drivers hand wheel or similar men'iber in the usual. mania-2r. Since these parts are well-known, it is deemed unnecessary to illustrate and describe them. y

. B is the radius rod, which comprises the two arms, 1:3 and a spherical head, B located at the angle formed by the arms. Said head extends into a stationary socket on the frame of the machine in the usual manner. The ends of the radius rod are secured to the axle by the radius rod clamps, B.

The parts thus far described are already known to the art and may, for example, be

seen in five-passenger Ford automobiles.

The mechanism constituting my improvement will now be described.

At the angle of the radlus rod, immediately forward. of the spherical head, B, a

ened and bears against the lower faces of the arn1s,.B Said. member extended downward and has an opening; (3, extending through said member from front to rear.

Above said opening is an upright opening.

G extending; from the opening, U, through the upper face of the member, C A bolt,

C extends through. the aperture, (3*, and

the opening, G, and between the arms, B, of the radius rod and firmly. clamp said members to the radius rod. An auxiliary.

rod, D, extends through the opening, CT, of the lower bracket member, C and thence forward to the axle, A. At each side of the bracket member, G a nut, D is threaded around the auxiliary rod. At the forward face of the lower bracket member, a washer plate, D surrounds the auxiliary rod and bears against shoulders, G on the upper portion of the lower bracket member, whereby said plate s positioned. In. saidplate is an aperture, 1)", (Fig. 3) through which the auxiliary rod extends. Said aperture is of such size and'positlon as tocanse the auxiliary rod to lie in the lower portion of the opening, C of the'lower bracket member to the stationarycam member, E.

when the bracket plate bears against the shoulders, C Between the washer plate and the adjacent nut, D is an ordinary Washer, D and betweenthe member,-C and the other nut, D is a similar washer D". At its forward end, said auxiliary rod extends through and is immovably secured The upper portion of the hub, E of the cam member is flattened to form a face bearing against'the lower face of the axle, A, said axle being an I-beam. Above said hub is a horizontal flange, E extending across the adjacent lower flange, A, of the axle. Forward ofrsaid hub a clamp plate, E loosely surrounds the auxiliary rod and has a horizontal flange, Eflextending across the adjacent portion of the flange, A, of the axle, A.

1h nut, E is threaded around the auxiliary rod forward of said clamp plate. By turning said nut rearward, the clamp plate is driven toward the stationary cam member, E, and said two members are thus firmly bound to the axle; and since the auxiliary rod is immovably secured to the cam member, E, the auxiliary rod is immovably secured to the axle. To secure precise posi tioning of the bracket, C, on the radius rod, both nuts, D may besuita-biy positioned by turning them on the auxiliary rod. The cam member, Fl, may be applied to the auxiliary rod by threading and securing it against rotation by means of a set bolt, E, extending through the hub, E

lVhen thus secured, the rod, D, forms an auxiliary to the radius rod, B. Both arms of said rod are materially supported or reinforced with reference to strains applied by the axle A. Thus both of said arms are materially aided in resisting strains tending to break or bend said arms. Furthermore, if either of said arms should break, the auxlhary rod is present to temporarily cooperate with the other arm for maintaining the axle, A, in its normal position following the shock which caused the breaking of one of the arms, thereby maintaining the course of V the automobile and preventing an accident of the kind occurring after an arm of the radius rod breaks in the absence of my auxihary rod. 'It is well-known that, during some such accidents, the axle abruptly changes from its normal position, the body supporting springs to which said axle is connected being promptly bent or broken, and the automobile runs violently against an ob struction or pitches over an embankment the automobile being entirely out of the 0011 V By the use of my improved auxlhary rod, the danger of breaking an arm of the radius rod is much reduced,

and when such a break docs orcur, the axle is held in its normal position and the automobile remains under the control of the driver.

To the auxiliary rod is applied mechanism which yieldingly resists movement of the guide wheel spindles out of their normal positions either forward or backward. lmmediately at the rear of the stationary cam member, E, is a movable ram member, F. Said member surrounds the auxiliary rod and is free to rotate and to move endwisc thereona 011 said member, F, is a rocking arm, F extending upward. A connecting rod, F has one end coupled to the upper end of saidarm and has its other and con-- pled to the spindle connecting rod, A", near one end oi the latter, the connecting rod, V, being approximately parallel to the spindlev connecting rod. From the foregoing it will be seen that endwise movement of the spindle connecting rod, A", will cause corresponding endwise movement of the connecting rod, F and oscillation of the arm l, and partial rotation of the movable can; member, F. These parts are so ropo1.- tioned as to bring thcarm, F, into the upright position when the spindle connccting rod is in its middle position and the guide wheel spindles, A stand parallel to the axle.- Thus the spindles and the rocking arm more synchronously. Yielding resistance to the turning of the movable cam member, F, is applied to said member in such manner as to keep the arm, F in the upright position and thereby keep the spindle cimnecting rod, A, in the middle position and the guide wheel spindles parallel to the axle.

For this purpose, the cam members, E and F, are provided with inter-engaging cams which permit the member F, to occupy :t certain position relative to the mcn'lbei", B when the arm, F is in. the upright position and which cause the movement of the member, F, endwise away from the member, E, when the member F, is partially rotated on the auxiliary rod. On the member, E, are

cams, E, which normally rest between cams,

F 011 the member, F. hen the member, F, is partially turned in either direction, one of the cams, F slides over the adjacent cam", E, and forces the member, F, endwise :ur'ay from the member, E. Within the member, F, an expanding coiled spring, F, surrounds the auxiliary rod and bears by its forward end against an annular shoulder, F, formed in the forward portion of the member, F. At the rear of said spring a washer, F, surrounds the auxiliary rod and is of proper diameter to extend loosely into the rear end of the member, F, and form a slidable abutment for the rear end of the spring and also a support for centering the rear portion of the member, F. A nut F is threaded to the auxiliary rod and bears against said washer. By turning said nut, the pres sure of the washer against the spring may be varied. The portion of the auxiliary rod to which the nut, F is applied must be formed enough thicker than the portion of said rod rearward of said place to permit forming the screw threads outside of a cylindrical space equaling the diameter of the portion of said rod rearward of said threads, in order that said nut may be turned rearward and released from said threads and then slipped rearward along said rod. The shoulder, F in addition to forming an abutment for the forward end of the spring, F forms a means for centering the forward end of the member, F, on the auxiliary rod.

011 the stationary cam member, E, a flange, E extends rearward concentric with the auxiliary rod and surrounds the forward end of the member, F, for the purpose of keeping dirt from the cams, E and F. In the form of the apparatus illustrated by the drawings,

the connecting rod, F, is coupled to the left-,

hand end of the spindle connectingrod, A, by means of a clamp bracket, G, secured to the rod, A. On said bracket is an eye, G through which the rod, F extends loosely, the interior diameter of said eye being greater than the thickness of said rod. (See Fig. 8). At each side of the eye, the rod, F is surrounded by an expanding coiled spring, G On the adjacent end of the rod is a nut, G forming an abutment for the adjacent spring. At the opposite side of said 3 eye, an annular shoulder, G", forms an abutment for. the other sprin These two springs together position the eye relative to the length of the rod, F and said springs are sufliciently strong to maintain such relation under ordinary conditions. Since the eye is larger than the rod, the rod and the eye may turn out of axial alinement without cramping the rod in the eye. Such movement out of axial alinement will cause the eye to slightly compress the springs; but this compression is so slightand is accomsaid joint is simple and economical and makes its own adjustment to compensate for wear, the springs, G at all times pressing against'their abutments and against the eye, (2 regardless of wearing of said members.

I claim as my invention:

1. .ln a vehicle, the combination with an axle and spindles on said axle and a radius rod comprising arms secured to said axle, of an auxiliary rod having one end secured to the radius rod at the angle of the latter and having its other end joined to the axle, a rocking member supported by said auxiliary rod, means placing said rocking member in operative relation with said spindles for symchronous movement, said rocking memher being in the upright position when the spindles are parallel to the axle, substantially as described.

2. In a vehicle, the combination with an axle and spindles on said axle and a radius rod comprising arms secured to said axle, of

an auxiliary rod having one end secured to the radius rod at the angle of the latter and having its other end joined to the axle, a movable cam member and a fixed cam member supported by said auxiliary rod, an arm on the movable cam member, means placing said arm in operative relation with said spindles for synchronous movement, said arm being in the upright position when the spindles are parallel to the axle, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name this 10th day of December, in the year one thousand nine hundred and fifteen.

JESSE M. BENSON. 

